His Best Student
by DokkanJenny
Summary: Zarana is sent in to free Cobra Commander. Upon entering Cobra's hideout, Zarana finds her former teacher StormShadow recovering from his injuries,old feelings resurface, as do old rivals. It's a fine line between love and hate. stormshadow/zarana.
1. The first day

Disclaimer: I do not own G.I Joe that belongs Hasbro. I'm only a fan with too much free time on their hands.

Summary: Zartan sends his sister Zarana to free Cobra Commander and Destro. Upon entering Cobra's hideout, Zarana finds her former teacher Storm Shadow recovering from his injuries…old feelings resurface, as do old rivals. It's a fine line between love and hate. Storm shadow/Zarana.

His Best Student

Chapter 1

"The first day"

It was around one-thirty A.M when her fraternal twin brother Zandar handed her the cell phone. On the other end of the line; was their older brother Zartan. The conversation was short and sweet, Zarana had been waiting for this call for some time now, ever since news of the Doctor and McCullen's arrests had reached her and Zander. Zartan had phoned ahead days after the arrests were made, letting the twins know that they would be needed again- and that they might be infiltrating a high security prison at that. Zandar scoffed upon hearing that and muttered to Zarana that Zartan was making things too easy for them.

Zarana laughed at her twin. It did in fact sound like an easy job, compared to what they had done in the past. Zarana and Zandar worked for McCullen faithfully up until last year. It was Zarana who had wanted to part ways with her employer, Zandar had not wanted to leave such a high paying gig but he was faithful to his twin. Zartan stayed behind of course, he had no reason to leave, and he had laughed at her when she let him know why she was leaving McCullen's employment. He had called her a stupid, jealous brat, and that she would have to learn to get over things, to deal with her personal problems. To humor her older brother, Zarana let him know that she would come back and serve McCullen only, she had emphasized the IF, and only if it was truly worth her while.

Well, now that Zartan was sitting in for the good ol' President of the U.S of A, the opportunities that would arise from this were just too good to pass up. Even if it meant running into her old teacher…the thought of _him_ would usually make her skin crawl and her face scrunch up into a scowl. . Why this reaction? Zarana had a diary full of answers for that, The scowl? For the bitch who had so easily taken over her spot, who had stolen her favor in his eyes. Zarana admired her teacher so, he must have known, and he had looked her over for that brunette bimbo in leather.

"Brother says that Storm Shadow might be dead. And the Baroness? Zartan says she's sided with the enemy, I don't think you have anything to worry about sis." Zandar casually mentioned on the drive to the prison "and even if they were around…come on! Think of the doe we'll make!"

"Yeah, we'll make a bundle." Zarana was in the backseat, her twin was at the wheel driving a blue minivan, although a boring and ugly vehicle, Best place to hide was in plain sight. She was changing into her disguise; with short bubblegum pink hair she stood out, ironic really since trade was to stay out of sight. Zartan had told them what to get, and what to use. The rest was up to her and Zander.

No complaints there.

"I wonder what McCullen thinks of his girl now." Zarana snorted "She was two-timing her husband, and now she dumped the boss too, I warned them all…I did!" Zarana added angrily, Zander chuckled. He found it funny that Zarana hated Ana, The Baroness. He found it high school-ish too.

"What about your teacher? You happy he might be dead? I mean your all giggles over the Baroness, but what about _him_?" Zandar had been tempted to ask his twin sister that for some time now, he knew that Zarana was angry at Storm Shadow for some reason, though she had never bothered to tell him why-even if he was her fraternal twin brother.

Zarana paused.

"I Hope he's gone" Zarana replied in a relaxed tone, something in her voice betrayed her, But zander was not about to go and ask her why, he didn't want a black eye right about now. Though he was still curious.

"Funny how you say gone and not dead." That was as close as he could get to berating her about the missing Ninja; Zandar said nothing else as Zarana put on a wig.

Zarana fought back the urge to insult her brother. Mostly because he had struck a nerve, sure she wanted Storm Shadow gone, but did she want him dead?.

Though she would never admit it out loud, privately her answer to that would most definitely have been a no.

As she changed into her clothes, she though back to when she had started working for McCullen; back when she had first met his hired gun. She wasn't old, only twenty-four, but when she had met her former master she was about seventeen, Zartan had introduced her and Zandar into the world of crime years prior, and not one of the three siblings ever wanted to go straight after accumulating such wealth in their con jobs. It was actually Zartan who had taught her how to disguise herself, how to take someone identity.

Before choosing the life of a criminal, Zarana had wanted to become an actress. She and Zandar had even enrolled in a theater junior high school. Zarana had been complimented in the past that she could join the Hollywood a-listers one day, it was her convincing acting abilities that had prompted Zartan to recruit her into his money making schemes. It was McCullen who originally approached her elder brother to join his cause, Zarana did not know all the details, but McCullen had wanted all three of them. McCullen admitted that he found their "talents" useful and critical to his cause. The price was right, the housing would be taken care of, and the thought of working international espionage just seemed so titillating.

Zarana was an adventurous girl, how could she pass it up?. Though there was only one problem: She had no military skill, no fighting skills, she had never even shot a gun. Up until that point; Zarana had left the physical stuff up to Zandar and Zartan, the killing and the roughing up part of a mission was their job, Zarana usually served as the distraction. Her hair was auburn at the time, she had always worn it short so that she could wear wigs, she was plain in the eyes of her superiors then, but useful.

"Your brother is up to par Zartan, but your sister…She needs work." Zarana overheard McCullen state fiercely "I could use her, Society rarely suspects a woman when it comes to this sort of thing. But I will not waste man power to keep her safe, she'll have to learn to watch after herself."

Although selfish, her brother was still protective of her and Zandar, Zarana knew that Zartan would not accept putting her in harm's way.

"That's why she always works with me or Zandar, we get the job done, the three of us." Zartan argued. McCullen scoffed.

"I can't have the three of you working together always, I may need to send you all to different cities at the same time. Your family skill is going to be needed. Besides, is that what you want? A needy woman following you everywhere? Even if she is your sister?" McCullen taunted Zartan, Zarana knew that that would upset her brother, but Zartan only scowled.

"What do want to do then? If you want my sister to work for you, what do you plan on doing?" McCullen, relaxed his posture as Zartan asked this question, his face was calm and stoic as he faced the eldest of the three impersonators.

"There is someone working for me. He's skilled, a gifted assassin…I will have him train her, he has attempted to teach a few of my agents, but he loses patience with men quickly. Maybe he'll be a little more tolerant with a woman." McCullen laid out his plans, Zartan did not like it, the thought of Zarana training with some man alone without neither he or Zandar present bothered him. Zarana was the one who told her brother that she would do it, she wanted the money they all did.

A week later, McCullen removed Zarana from Zandar and Zartan's care. Zandar was furious about this at first, as the two were rarely separated. Twins, fraternal or identical are usually close, Zarana often felt incomplete without hers-but the two knew that this was to benefit them all

Some foot soldier ended up escorting her to her destination, it was in a submarine of sorts, more like an underwater speed boat as she had not known the name for it yet. Zarana remembered how smooth the craft traveled under water, no bumps or shakes of any sort to frighten her. The speed was incredible, she had hardly felt that they were racing through the ocean at a 180 mph; the technology impressed her, it made her eager to see what other gadgets McCullen had in storage. Within an hour or two, the sub had sharply turned and sprung up to the surface, it stalled for a minute or too. Before the sub began to head in the direction of shore.

Zarana had not recognized the sight, even though she had traveled to many places in her life. She was dropped off on some rocky cove, the land was grassy, but yellowish and dying- wet from the spray of the ocean mist, there were many trees behind her, but no road. The driver had carelessly thrown her belongings to the ground.

"Hey! That's Louis vuiton! It's super expensive!" she'd shouted at her escort.

"I'm sure you stole it." The driver replied before turning his back on her.

'I did, but that's not the point' Zarana rolled her eyes as she thought this, turning her own back on the man, she took another look at the area and inspected her surroundings "So where am I supposed to go? Who am I meeti-" Zarana stopped short and quickly turned around at the sound an engine roaring, she was horrified to find that her escort was already departing.

"HEY!, HEY!!!!" she shouted but to no avail, the sub was heading back out into the ocean. "You guys are just leaving me here? That's bullshit! What if something happens to me!" She screeched at the top of her lungs. Zartan and Zandar would be so angry if they heard of this, she knew that for a fact.

"Bastards…" Zarana muttered and kicked the dirt, mist was spraying her face and wetting her luggage, she was wearing an expensive bubble coat, but it wasn't warm. She was sure she was going to get sick from this. This whole drop off seemed dramatic to her, who was she waiting for anyway?. She stood and waited for half an hour, her attitude had turned sour by this time, she was getting crankier by the minute, and her hair was frizzling from the ocean air.

She was tempted to head into the wooded area to see if she could find some sort of main road when she heard the sounds of propellers thundering in the air. Tilting her head back to look up at the air, Zarana saw a black heavy looking helicopter, a wave of relief flowed through her. Good old McCullen hadn't abandoned her here after all. She stepped back as it began to descend, landing several feet away from her. Zarana covered her eyes with a scarf that she was wearing to shield herself; from the gust the propellers were creating. She expected them to stop, but they did not, the door slid open, it was evident that this was going to be a quick pick up and that she would have to hurry on board.

Zarana never traveled light, her disguises were in her luggage, all her wigs, clothes and make up. She picked up one of her suitcases, when she noticed a man covered head to toe in white jump out of the helicopter, he wore a white ski mask over his head with white goggles over his eyes. He carried two swords on his back, Zarana gulped nervously, was he a ninja? She asked herself at the time. He sprinted over to her side, he picked up the rest of her belongings and tilted his head sharply in the direction of his ride, Zarana said nothing and followed him.

The two raced into the helicopter, there were two seats inside separated by a small channel to the cockpit, they were facing the rear of the aircraft, he shouted something to her as they were seating, but with the propellers roaring and his mouth muffled by the ski mask she was unable to understand what he was saying. She noticed from his body language that he was growing impatient, suddenly the man in white reached for her shoulder firmly, Zarana gasped in surprise and felt her frame being pushed back against the seat the man's frame was looming over her then, his hands were reaching for black straps, hearing the clicks Zarana realized that he was strapping her into her place. The man reached towards the side of her seat and pulled out a black headset that had earphones and a thin wiry microphone attached.

He held the head set in his hand and raised up to her head and placed the gear correctly over her ears and adjusted the microphone close to her lips. Once that was done with the man, flopped back onto his side and hurriedly strapped himself in, he made a hand gesture to the pilot and the helicopter door suddenly slit shut. Zarana gasped, could helicopters do that automatically? Guess they could.

Even though the door was shut, it was still pretty loud from the propellers. Zarana breathed sharply and looked over to the man in white, she felt a little hostile towards him honestly, with him pushing her onto her seat and strapping her in like some sort of infant-it was insulting!. Sure they were in a hurry but come on!, weren't there other ways?. Not even her brothers had babied her like that.

"Hey, you didn't have to do that you know!. I could have buckled myself in, as you can see I'm a full grown woman, I can take care of myself." Zarana pointed at herself, her eyebrows scrunched together. The man in white was reaching for his own head set, he turned her away and tilted his head. Clear to her that he had not understood what she had said to him. She saw his chest rise and descend as he reached for his ski mask and goggles, the man first yanked off the goggles, throwing the goggles to the floor he then pulled off the mask. Zarana pursed her lips together upon seeing his face.

While he was adjusting his head set, Zarana took a moment to inspect his features. He had dark jet black hair, about two inches long but short enough for that masculine look. His skin was tan, and his profile strong, his jaw line, his cheekbones and his nose were so perfect, he was Asian, from the looks of it he was of Korean descent. When his eyes glanced her way, Zarana's skin paled instead of flushed from her embarrassment, she had never seen such a deep set of brown eyes, they were so captivating.

"What did you say" he said into the microphone, he eyed her carefully. Studying her. Zarana heard a slight accent in his voice, but his English was pretty good from what she heard. Zarana gulped, and composed herself. She chose her words carefully so as not to sound like an airhead.

"I said…I said that, I could have buckled myself in…I'm a grown woman, I can take care of myself." Zarana shifted her eyes, trying her best to avoid eye contact him. She heard him chuckle, Zarana quickly turned her full attention on him forgetting about her shyness.

"If you could take care of yourself; you wouldn't have been sent to me." He spoke in adeep voice, he sounded amused. Zarana arched her eyebrows, taken aback by his comeback. Frantically; she thought of something smart and insulting to say to him, and could muster nothing. She realized that she had just made a fool of herself, and wished that her twin was here to back her up, or even Zartan.

"So you're the guy that's supposed to train me…right?" she changed the subject, it worked. The man in white nodded, and leaned back proudly against his seat.

"Yes, I am." He said simply. He was a man of few words, she picked that up right away, Zarana was struck by how young he looked. He didn't look that much older than her. Was he the skilled assassin? Really? She was tempted to ask how old he was. "Storm Shadow."

"What?"

"My name is Storm Shadow, you should refer to me by that name, or Master. Teacher I will tolerate, but only by these three names. I expect you to be respectful to me, or else I will send you back to where you came from. If you act out in anyway-your training is over." Storm Shadow went on to mouth a list of rules as if he had rehearsed them, but then she had been told than he had had many students sent to him by McCullen.

"I will not work with you if you don't follow these rules. Understand?" Storm Shadow looked forward, not bothering to eye her as he read of his list. Zarana listened carefully, and nodded when he was finished. "What is your name?"

"Zarana."

"hmm, such an uncommon name. McCullen says you have older brothers, what are they named?"

"Zartan and Zandar." Zarana saw his lip quirk, forming a snicker.

"Zartan, Zarana and Zandar?" Storm Shadow chuckled "These are real names? Your parents actually named you Zarana? And gave you all Z names?"

"As a matter of fact they did." Zarana raised her voice proudly but nervously, eager to defend her name. "I like our names, their unique, besides what kind of a name is Storm Shadow?" Zarana had forgotten to be respectful to her teacher, and flinched when he looked her way again. But he seemed unfazed.

"It's my ninja name." Zarana bit down on her tongue, when she heard that. Calmly, Storm Shadow formed a slight smile-but it was not directed at her, that was pretty clear. "I enjoy one's reaction when they hear that."

"H-h-how many students have you taught?" she dared to ask.

"Too many, all worthless…" he paused "You are actually the first woman to train with me…don't expect me to treat you differently though. A student is a student, a pupil will always be beneath their master in rank."

"What if I surpass my master? " Zarana added curiously, she knew for a fact that a student could-and often surpassed their teachers. Storm Shadow did not react facially.

"It won't happen."

An arrogant response in her opinion. But as her training would progress, she would later come to agree with him.

-

She had assumed the role of a prison guard. Earlier in the day; Zarana and Zandar had killed a woman who worked in the prison after some heavy surveillance of the woman's daily activities. With wigs, make up, and prosthetics , and her acting abilities, Zarana had assumed the identity of Susan Markovic. Zandar was to wait in a nearby field for her exit. She knew it wouldn't take long. Markovic had a high rank among the guards, complete with access cards and codes. It was almost laughable how easy it was for her to break in.

Susan Markovic was not well liked, so no guard really stopped to talk to Zarana. Other guards nodded and greeted her politely, but other than that it was breeze. Zartan had stressed that he wanted the Doctor out first, that McCullen was expendable. This had caught Zarana by surprise at first. But she had every intention o leaving with both alive and well, McCullen was their employer no?. She wondered what went on there.

Walking around like she owned the place, Zarana found her destination quickly. Upon seeing the cells, she did not feel so confident in her plan to free the Doctor and McCullen. All prisoners in the Maximum security area were such strange cells, all in individual cylinder shaped cells with no windows, or doors. Now even Zarana had to stop and ask herself if this was humane, was this really legal?.

"No freaking way…" Zarana whispered out loud and looked around in the control room. The two guards assigned to the panel were sleeping. She rolled her eyes, and her confidence was restored. Maybe she had put a lot more effort into this than she should have. Zarana walked up to the nearest computer screen, it was a touch screen, she scrolled through the names and mug shots on the screen and was shocked to see the two she was to free.

J. McCullen no longer looked like the McCullen that had hired her years ago. His face was now metallic, and monstrous. He no longer appeared human.

R. Lewis the doctor. His mask was different. But he was still thin and freaky looking, so Zarana wasn't too stunned to see his mug shot. It was McCullen who had taken her by surprise.

Pressing a few buttons. She saw the cells move. Two crane claws moved in a conveyer like fashion and snatched the cells, from their place. Zarana smirked triumphantly, phase 1 was done with. Now on to the fun part. Grabbing a gun from her holster, Zarana pointed them at the sleeping guards. Their deaths were quick and painless.

The silencer let the murders go un-noticed; she did not have much time until the bodies were discovered. In her pockets was a rubber mask that Zartan had told her to bring along. At the time she had questioned it, but now she knew why, it was for McCullen. She grabbed that and undressed the guards, stealing their uniforms; she took out a bottle and sprayed the uniforms, hiding the blood stains from the dead guards. A nifty invention the Doctor had given while she worked for McCullen. It was her favorite of his creations. With Uniforms in hand she rushed to the cell doors and to wait for her charges.

The doctor emerged first. Zarana looked at him and smiled, McCullen's cell was still loading onto the dock.

"Zarana…Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He rasped removing his mask, she had seen his face before and did not wince when he revealed his burnt face. "Your brother sent you didn't he?".

"He did Doctor." She was hushed by the Doctor, who raised his hand up and placed a finger on her lips. Zarana was disgusted by this, but he was higher in rank and she could not insult him.

"Commander…You no longer work for McCullen. You work for Cobra, and you will call me Commander." The doctor spoke slowly, Zarana froze.

"Commander…"She repeated "But McCullen-"

"He is no longer in control."

McCullen's cell docked and he exited the cylinder. Zarana flinched when she saw him up close, his skin…it was so…odd. How could he move?.

"Zarana" his familiar accent exaggerated the Z and R in her name. He looked as if he were about to reach out and hug her, when the Doctor intervened.

"Not now Destro!" he hissed "There will be time for that later." McCullen glared at the Doctor, and the backed down. Now Zarana was very confused. She did not want to talk any more, she wanted to leave this place asap. The dead bodies would be found soon. The Doctor and McCullen changed into the guard s uniforms, McCullen donned the mask.

Leading the way; Zarana would serve as the guide, she snickered at how oblivious others were to three criminals were walking among them. The doctor was the most obvious, but no one noticed. They met up with Zandar at the rendezvous point in the nearby field. Zarana jumped into the front seat alongside her twin.

"Don't say anything just drive." Zarana said sharply. As she saw the look on her brothers face express horror. "The hideout to the east right Commander?" Zarana asked the Doctor, he only nodded.

-

The base was all but empty. He was the only one there, limping from room to room. He struggled to breath every now and then. The medical instruments in this lab were not as advanced as the one in Antarctica. He knew that he would live, but it would take awhile before he was a hundred percent again. His colleagues were nowhere in sight, many must have been hiding out for the time being.

This is what he thought until he saw the silent alarm go off. Walking up to the screen, he ordered for a visual. Storm Shadow's face dropped. when he saw those in the sub approach.

Zarana. He knew immediately that it would not be a happy reunion.

-

-

Notes: it's been awhile since I watched the original G.I Joe cartoons, and I Just re-watched the movie last night (Eh, lol) and I wanted to write something with the ultra sexy Storm Shadow. And instead of making up an OC I decided to insert Zarana even though she is not in the movie. Also with Zartan in the film, I thought that it would be a convenient way to introduce his sister, and a way to introduce someone close to storm shadow.

I know that Zarana is a bit ooc. But then so were most of our Joes and Cobras in the film. And besides, its fanfiction, its just for fun. I also have some juicy things planned with the Baroness, big rivalry there. Hope you guys will stick around to read it.

Thanks.

DJ


	2. The Test

His Best Student

Chapter 2

"The test"

Zarana matched eyes with her former mentor with a piercing gaze, through the screen on the sub Zarana had several emotions running through her, anger being number one and relief being the second. He was alive. She was glad that he was still amongst the living. Yet years of harbored resentment were strong with her, and she could not hide the scowl that had formed on her face, she looked away from the screen as Storm Shadow began to speak with the Commander and Destro. Zandar noticed the instant change in his twin sister's behavior, casually side glancing without her noticing and he could tell that her blood was boiling and whatever would happen once inside the facility would not be pretty.

"Whatever you do, keep us apart. I don't want to talk to him; I don't even want to go near him." Whispered Zarana to Zandar in a language the two had created years ago as children, to anyone else listening it would have been just gibberish- but to the twins it was _their_ special language.

"I'm not surprised." Replied Zandar "You best find a room to bug in then, you're gonna have to deal with him eventually." Zarana pursed her lips together and took in a deep nasally breath and exhaled, she shut her eyes then listening to her superiors converse with the ninja whom from her earshot sounded hoarse and weak. Something that was not like him, not like him at all, opening her eyes Zarana glanced up towards the screen again with scrunched eyebrows she studied her master. He was gravely ill looking, not his healthy tan skin tone was not as she had remembered…he looked tired.

And so her eyes softened, long enough for Storm Shadow to notice through the screen. As the Commander ordered for decompression and boarding, the screen faded out, but Storm Shadow had taken a glance at his former pupil, his own emotions betrayed him. But unlike Zarana, his facial expressions remained stoic-he did not know what he would say to her, but knowing Zarana, Storm Shadow knew that it would take some coaxing before even a sigh would be uttered between them. She was stubborn that way…bull headed. But…that had been something he had liked about her.

The Commander ordered both Destro and Zandar to attend to the weakened ninja once they had docked in the hideout. Both men did as the hissing new leader instructed, Zandar had thrown his sister a confused look before following Destro to aid Storm Shadow. It was clear to Zarana that Zandar was still confused about the former doctor's rise in rank. She herself would have loved an explanation; Zarana would message their older brother Zartan about this later once she had the chance. She followed the men as they headed to the control room where her master awaited them, the Commander walked alongside her his breathing apparatus hissing as they walked.

"A pleasant reunion no?" the Commander spoke to Zarana.

"Hardly." She replied dully. The commander gave a sinister laugh. And the two spoke no more.

Zarana stayed at the door of the control room as her brother and her superiors walked to Storm Shadows aid, she eyed in silence as Destro and Zandar took hold of the weak ninja. She was curious, and concerned at the same time. This was not how she remembered him.

"I see my nano-mites have kept you alive." Zarana heard the Commander rasp. "They were experimental, this is why you are still weak and have not fully recovered my dear Storm Shadow."

"They kept me strong enough to escape the cold, I believe in time I will heal completely." Storm Shadow said between breaths. "I will live, not even my brother's sword can kill me now."

"Of course you will, but we need you healthy." The commander took a step away from Storm Shadow "Bring him to the infirmary, I will configure a new set of nano mite's and return him to full health."

"The facility is not as well stocked as the original." Destro protested with a thick accent.

"THIS, facility has everything we need. I made sure of it before we launched the attack against the Joes" the commander shouted at Destro, whom quieted down.

"Did you expect all this to happen?" Zandar speaking for the first time questioned.

"One must always prepare for the unexpected." Was all the Commander said. Destro and Zandar escorted Storm Shadow out of the control room, the Commander led the way and the trio followed, Storm shadow was staggering between Zandar and Destro. Almost looking embarrassed for the aid, Storm Shadow prided himself on his independence this was humiliating to him.

Zarana looked on but stepped back a few feet as her partners headed down to the infirmary, Storm Shadow glanced over his shoulder, his lips parted slightly as the two once again caught one another's gaze. Zarana could not stand it, his deep chocolate brown eyes could always see right through her. She could not and would not let him get to her, not again. Turning on her heel, Zarana sprinted away from the scene. Her teeth bared and gritted she ran down a long corridor looking for any empty room for her to lay low in for a while, she could feel the anger building in her again. The rejection from that horrible day fresh in her mind still. Once alone, in a cold silvery room with a not so comfortable looking cot- Zarana did the one thing that she could that would help release her contempt. She punched the wall, which clanged it was made of titanium and it hurt terribly but again she punched, again, again…till her right knuckle could not handle it anymore.

Zarana slumped onto the floor, breathing heavily. Once upon a time, this sort of tantrum would have made her cry her eyes out, but the training had toughened her up. She could not deny that he had helped her become the woman she was today.

.7 years ago.

"How old are you Zarana." Storm Shadow asked the auburn haired girl as the helicopter ride came to an end, the helicopter had landed in a remote snowy terrain, the open field they had landed on was around 2 acres of pure snow with a woodland area surrounding the clearing. There was no sign of civilization, all Zarana could see as she and Storm Shadow exited the helicopter was a small cabin. And it was not cozy looking at all. Zarana made a face at the sight of the cabin.

"I'm seventeen." Zarana grabbed one of her stolen Louis Vuitton bags and hauled it over her shoulder as a foot soldier tossed the remainder of her luggage on the ground. " Hey! Careful with those! I could re-sell those and make a bundle! They are no good if their damaged you idiot!."

Upon her outburst Storm Shadow looked at the girl sternly and shook his head, Zarana caught his reaction and shrugged.

"he shouldn't be tossing my stuff."

"You should not be disrespectful, if you like I can toss your things back in the helicopter and you can go back to your family. I told you that I will not tolerate that kind of behavior." Storm Shadow was adamant that his rules were to be followed, and her she was already breaking a rule. Zarana sure as hell did not want to lose out on that big contract with McCullen and bit the bullet.

"I'm sorry…master…" She apologized with gritted teeth. "I will behave."

"Very well, once your things are unloaded, bring them into the cabin. You have twenty minutes before I lock you out, I must tell you there are no other residences in the area so you better hurry." And with that, the ninja Storm Shadow had given Zarana her first assignment. It was a simple one, but it horrified Zarana. She had many pieces of luggage, one was a trunk. And many were heavy. He would not honestly lock her out in the freezing cold would he?.

The helicopter lifted off and departed as the last piece of luggage was thrown out. Zarana quickly looked to her trainer whom stood fiercly in the snow in his white uniform. He eyed her and slowly turned his back on her, making his way towards the cabin.

"Twenty minutes." He repeated. " You are young, seventeen year olds have a lot of strength so don't complain or ask for help. I was carrying heavier items at the age of eight and I handled such tasks with minutes to spare. So move fast child I'm not playing around."

'Oh god he's serious! He'll really lock me out! Shit no wonder he goes through students like mad!' Thought Zarana, with great panic the auburn haired mistress of disguise scrambled the lightest of her items and dashed through the snow towards the cabin which was only ten feet away, but the snow was a six inches deep and it slowed down her pace. Zarana dropped three bags and scrambled back for more, this went on for twelve minutes. In the thirteenth minute Zarana had reached her final hurdle, a huge trunk, the heaviest of her luggage. Zarana dragged it across the way back to the cabin, if only the snow had not been deep. Still with all her might she pulled that damn trunk towards the cabin, it seemed like forever. But she made it. Good god she had made it.

Zarana was pulling the trunk through the cabin door, as Storm shadow walked up next to her.

"Nineteen minutes. One minute to spare. You could have done better."


	3. Cold as hell

His best student

Chapter 3 "Cold as hell"

It would take less than two hours to restore Storm shadow into his former self the Commander had stated this as a fact and no one was about to doubt him, though she had known him as the Doctor; it was hard for Zarana to believe that he was now in charge and with a new name to boot. It was something to get used to, but in a way Zarana was relieved as she had no liking for good old McCullen, the stooge, the fool. The commander humiliated the man once known as McCullen and dismissed the disgraced arms dealer from his sight. Ordering both Zarana and Zandar to watch him and make sure that Destro was working on new weapons and placing codes, also ordering Destro to send for reinforcements.

Zartan had kept a good one hundred nano-mite soldiers hidden during the Commanders short imprisonment scattered among the world. But those soldiers were now expendable as he had armies at his command, Zarana snorted, Zandar Shrugged both had not expected their older brother to have so much control at his hands.

"He had nano-mite soldiers and we had to go free The Commander?" Zarana said bitterly, Zandar shook his head.

"Must have just wanted us back in the game I guess, you know how he is." Zandar didn't even want to make sense of their brother's actions even trying to decipher Zartan's MO would prove a waste of time. Zarana hated that about Zartan, Zartan was a snake charmer always had been, he even had lead his own gang at some point.

The Dreadknocks, long disbanded but it wasn't clear if Zartan was to blame for that. Zartan was twenty years older than the twins, he had lead a full life before their recruitment into his crime ring, it was interesting how close the three of them were but yet the twins knew so little of their older brother-Zartan could have had a full grown daughter and slew of wives for all Zarana knew and now he had Nuclear war heads and god knows what else at his disposal.

Zarana made a memo never to piss him off, at least not any time soon.

"This is ridiculous!" Destro hissed "I am a McCullen! An influential business man...I cannot be reduced to this! An expendable lackey." Destro was working a multi task board, keying in several codes and activating parts of the hide out as well as unloading weapons to certain docks, so much power and all at his fingertips and yet he had no authority to use it- at least not anymore.

"Will you just finish your task, I don't care what's happened to you McCullen! We've got orders." Zandar had his arms crossed and had been listening to Destro rant for quite some time now and was becoming extremely aggravated, hearing his former employer bitch about his current position in Cobra was something he didn't need at the moment.

"Was I not good to the both of you? I paid you well! Zarana...I even arranged for your training with Storm Shadow!" at this Zarana stiffened up and Zartan snickered knowing McCullen had accidently hit a sour nerve with Zarana not that McCullen noticed as he continued to rant "I took care of the both of you before. If you side with me and aid me back into power you will be rewarded handsomely." Destro had stood up, clenching his fist to his chest as he made this impassioned plea, his eyes determined and his smile triumphant, the twins stared at him, both mirroring a considerate stare as if they were tempted into helping him.

"You took care of us?" Zandar murmured scratching his forehead with his forefinger, he snickered at Zarana whom rolled her eyes. Upon seeing their reaction Destro's smile faltered, his glare going from determination to surprise as the twins pointed two pistols at him, Zandars aiming at his chest and Zarana's fixed on his midsection, she was far more willing to let him die slowly and bleed out on the floor like a stuffed pig.

"Listen well McCullen, I stopped working for you four years ago and I had a damn good reason why. Also, you did not take care of us! WE took care of you! You were lucky enough to meet Zartan and recruit the three of us, we did the dirty work while you sat in a cozy office schmoozing and screwing over your colleagues and fawning over computer images of The Baroness." Zandar said harshly "We take care of ourselves, Zarana and I can walk away at any time and still be well off, hell we can kill you right now if we wanted too. Zartan didn't mention anything about your survival being a priority."

Zandar was a man of his word, he was not a smooth talker, he was not as skilled at disguises as his twin sister and his brother Zartan. But he was a good enforcer, and he was not one to be put down, McCullen insinuating that Zandar was incapable of caring for himself or getting a job done was a terrible insult.

"You-You misunderstand! You see if you two were on my side, we can take over once more and I will pay you more than before! You two were my best recruits, you were both good at what you did and I took care of you both did I not? Listened to your every request an-" Destro stopped he knew that whatever he said would only make Him look foolish.

"If you stop working and continue to pathetically try and bribe us again we will shoot you, and you know Zandar and I won't miss. Zandar is aimed at your heart and you know it will shatter when the bullet hits and if he fails to shoot you, I will and I'm aiming somewhere will you will drain out slowly." Zarana said sharply, Destro drew back lifted his chin up in some vain attempt to show strength.

"Zarana, you are no longer that girl I once knew..." Destro said quietly.

"Damn right I'm not." Zarana said shortly as she kept her gun poised "Get back to work, don't you even try and talk to us again."

Destro quietly went back to work, he did as he was told this time. He was not in charge anymore, talking and charming his way out of a situation was futile now.

Once he was finished with his work, the Twins escorted McCullen to a cell close to where the commander could keep an eye on him lest he try and escape on a sub or worse, stab him in the back (literally). Zandar was ordered by the Commander to follow him to the med lab as he needed him to help lift the currently unconscious Storm Shadow to finish the nano-mites healing process. Zarana said nothing, she kept a stone face as she watched her brother and her new leader operate on her former master. She watched from the door as they did this, she overheard the Commander say that any nano-mites they use will be permanently attached to the ninja, and that there would be no more to use in the case of another severe injury.

"His mind and body are far sharper than any soldier that I've injected with nano-mites, the fact that he could bond with them and still keep his free will was astounding in of itself. It's impressive that he was able to escape the arctic at all with these injuries!" The Commander sounded fascinated "The most impressive specimen. It will be an entertaining story to hear how he made it here, but that will have to wait."

"I thought he'd be awake by now." Was all Zandar said, it was clear he wasn't interested in hearing about the prized ninja's escape from Antarctica. The Commander ignored this and kept talking. Zarana could only watch, before she found herself walking away knowing that she wasn't needed at the moment and would be summoned once this was all over and done with.

"If he is so sharp why did he fall for that BS with the Baroness…?" Zarana mumbled to herself as she walked along the corridors, she found herself going back to the bunker that she had use to vent her rage. She did not go back in to punch out a wall again, this time she used the room to sit…to reminisce, how did it all go so wrong? Had she not meant anything at all to him back then?

.

Seven years ago,The cabin that she was to share with her "master" was small with a nice fireplace that would come in handy and a working restroom (thank god!), unfortunately the common room was the only living space for the two. Storm shadow slept in a pallet bed to the right corner far from her, Zarana's pallet was closer to the restroom which she happily used to change into her clothing each morning and night, no way in hell was she going to get undressed in front of him!.

There were only two meal times, breakfast and dinner. Every morning it was warm soup with vegetables that he had gotten somewhere, she questioned it once which Storm shadow answered with a unyielding expression. Zarana didn't ask again, instead resorting to making fun of him in her head and avoid breaking other rules that would send her home and ruin her chances of that fat contract back at base.

Dinners always differed, there was always meat, game that Storm Shadow had hunted himself in the wooded areas. At first Zarana had not wanted to eat it, she didn't know what the meat had been before it was cooked and served before her. She had not known that he could hunt, but Storm Shadow had explained that it was something he had to learn, he hated hunting animals but it was necessary.

At first, Storm shadow was the definition of stiff, he was always serious in the face. Did not really smile, he would occasionally glare-especially if Zarana had done a work out wrong or had offended him in some way. Still they trained, and for once Zarana tried to stay on someone's good side. Even if his training was killing her physically and mentally! His method was brutal, no wonder others gave up so easily!

If day one had been bad, day two was worse, day three unbearable. The training only got worse as the days turned into weeks and only two months in it felt as if years had passed, by week 9 Zarana felt time went much slower and every second to her was unbearable. Yet she found that she could lift things easier, her twenty pound trunk was easier to move around so Storm shadow had her running laps in the snow than doing chin ups with no gloves on the sturdiest tree branch, of course at this point Zarana swore that he was a sadist for he made her climb the harshened tree in order to get to that branch which happened to hang fifteen feet above the ground.

"Are you afraid? If you are I will have you climb even higher, fifteen feet is nothing. Will yourself to complete your objective, face the fear and complete your chin ups." Storm shadow would order her from the safety of the ground and repeat this every day.

'Easy for him to say' Zarana thought sarcastically at first, but she had now done this for four weeks. This was the first time he had ordered her to do one hundred chin ups and she was freezing, her body would shake, worst of all was the blisters she would get on her hands the freeze burns that Storm Shadow would at the least treat for her in the evenings, her body was still adjusting to the weather and she still got runny noses in the mornings 'if he makes me do a thousand I'll know he's trying to kill me!'

"You are slow today!" Storm shadow shouted up at her "are you busy thinking of idle things? Stop! And keep focus on what you are doing"

'I hate him' she thought "Yes teacher!" Zarana shouted instead, surprisingly she had been able to hold her sarcasm back during this training, she had not annoyed him or angered him-yet. Zartan would have had a heart attack if he knew that, she had always mouthed off whenever someone even try to usurp authority with her, Zandar would have laughed. She missed him the most during the training, Zarana wished she could at the very least write him but that was deemed a distraction and not allowed by her "master".

"90!" Zarana shouted, she stopped for a second and then pulled herself up for another "91!" she said with a sneeze, she felt her chest ache but this was normal she endured and counted each chin up, she was determined not to fail.

"You are doing well, once you get stronger we will move on to more demanding work. Maybe even start on weapons" Storm shadow always spoke sternly, but when he said this he sounded slightly amused.

'great weapons! Maybe then I'll go back to base' she thought hopefully, her head was spinning and her body was aching, she sneezed again as she pulled herself up once more-ignoring the great pain she felt in her chest "100!" at that Zarana's mind momentarily went blank as she hit the one hundredth chin up, maybe his statement had overwhelmed her or maybe it was the new number she had to reach in her work out regime, maybe it was that damn compression she felt in her chest- whatever happened it caused her to do something she had never done while doing these chin ups so high off the ground-she let go.

Zarana's recalled looking up towards the sky and her fingers slowly slipping away from the safety of the branch noticing that it was moving further and further away from her hands, she shut her eyes. Zarana did not remember tumbling down, if the whole world was buzzing or blurring around her as she fell she would not recall all she remembered was the sound of frantic running against the hardened ground where snow had not covered, she vaguely recalled her body slamming into something and her name being said over and over with urgency before she finally lost consciousness.

The cabin was much warmer than usual, this was the first thing she had noticed when her eyes fluttered open. Zarana's pallet bed felt much comfier, she felt the heaviness of other blankets on her frame. This was surprising considering that she had only had one blanket during these past nine weeks. It hurt to move; it felt as if her body had been run over by a freight train! Her mind was racing wildly, it only worsened when she sneezed. Despite all this she was able to make out her teacher leaning by her pallet holding a small cup that spewed steam, it smelled minty something that would be put in a medicine bottle, he was moving the cup around her head and was careful not to spill the contents onto her.

It was a good thing that she could not move, Zarana's normal reaction would have been to fling the damn cup away and curse at him. She immediately blamed him for the state that she was in, Zarana wanted to say this to him and yell a whole lot of choice obscenities at him, yet her strength was just not there. The normal Zarana was out of commission, and whether she liked it or not she was going to have to allow him to nurse her back to health.

"Nothing is broken, I've already looked you over for that." Storm Shadow spoke to her in a solemn tone which surprised Zarana "Before you think of the worst, I did not violate you in any way. I must say it was awkward changing your clothing for you as you are ill and what you were wearing would only hinder your recovery."

It was upon hearing that did Zarana's eyes fully widen and her mind zero in on the fact that he had seen her undressed! Had he seen her naked?! Surely this was a crime! If Zandar or Zartan were here they would have knocked his lights out for doing this! Or try too, Zarana was not sure of his skill and how many men Storm Shadow could fight at one time but they would have said and done something for his doing this.

"Did you undress me all the way?" Zarana croaked, though she had wanted to shout at him and say something far worse. Storm Shadow quietly put the steaming cup he was holding to his side, he then adjusted his body to where he was kneeling by her pallet, his legs folded underneath him neatly. He had called this style of sitting _seiza_ and he seemed comfortable sitting this way, she had had to learn to sit this way at dinner time and Zarana hated it- but then again a lot of things annoyed her.

"You were wearing undergarments and I did not remove them, do not think the worst. All I did was change you into looser garments, I had to take them from a nearby home, I believe they are intended for males but the larger size should be more comforting in your recovery process." Storm Shadow said this with his eyes closed, as if he had rehearsed this statement.

"There are other homes nearby?" Zarana said in surprise momentarily forgetting that he had seen her unclothed.

"Forty miles away." He replied simply.

"What?" she stammered and scrunched up her eyebrows.

"I did not leave you for long, it took me maybe twenty minutes. Believe me when I say I did not want to leave you behind, but considering your declining health and the fact that you fell fifteen feet did concern me. I could not risk taking you with me" What was this? Storm Shadow? The harsh teacher showing concern? No way.

"You…." Zarana felt like saying something smart, yet she faltered "I thought you said fifteen feet was nothing…."

"It is nothing when you are in good health, you are fortunate that I caught you in time…" Storm shadow cleared his throat, Zarana's eyes softened at this and the two looked into one another's eyes. Though she had looked at him before, the two had never really locked eyes since the day of the pick up from the cove. Zarana shut her eyes quickly, the last thing she needed was to have her trainer think that she had a crush on him now. Not that he wasn't good looking…course she had checked him out before, but he always did something that agitated her like make her run in the god forsaken snow.

But she had looked… but until now that was all it was. Just looking.

"I guess…I owe you one…." This was the best thing Zarana could muster up, there was no way in hell she was going to say thanks! Not even to her master, even if he had caught her from the drop and saved her from breaking a limp…or smashing her head open. That was good enough wasn't it? Storm Shadow responded with a crooked smile, he closed his eyes for a moment and nodded.

"You are very rude, but I take it that this is your way of giving gratitude." Storm shadow chuckled, Zarana could not help but snicker. He had a sense of humor all of a sudden? She must have been hallucinating he was always so harsh in training.

"Why are you being nice to me now?...your always so strict" Zarana said in a softer tone, something that was not in her character. Storm shadow shook his head.

"Do not get used to this, this is momentary until you are well." That killed it, Zarana frowned as he said this.

"So you are still going to train me? I figure all this would make you think I'm weak." Zarana confessed in a rare moment of insecurity, Storm shadow shook his head again.

"We all hit this point in training, the body can't always keep up. This is normal in the training process, though the severity of your break is only because of the illness you have. I am surprised you kept going and did not complain about your aches and pains. Many of my former students did not make it this far." Storm Shadow admitted and slowly leaned forward and gently placed the palm of his hand on her forehead, which took Zarana by surprise she did not flinch though, the warmth of his hand was somewhat comforting.

"You are stronger than you look, when you get better we will move on to weapons." Storm Shadow closed his eyes again "You will still continue your current regimes, but I assure you a year from now all of this will seem like child's play."

A year! Zarana had not realized she would be with him that long, she had thought the training would be shorter. How would Zandar manage without her? How would she manage without him?! Zartan was with him, but no one understood her twin better than she did. Who was going to cover for him when he had to sneak into a building and do a job? No! she could not be here! Not for a full year.

"Your eyes betray you, something troubles you. Is it the amount of time? Surely you were told the amount of time needed to learn the skills of an assassin?"

"McCullen did not tell me that." She growled and shifted in her place and found herself shouting in pain. Storm Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder, lifting a water bottle to her lips so that she could drink, it helped…a little.

"I am not surprised, most do not take to the amount of time it takes to learn…" Storm shadow shrugged "I assume you miss your family?" Zarana pursed her lips, she didn't want to admit it but she did. She missed Zandar pretty badly, the two had never been separated. Since the day they were born the two had been inseparable, they always worked together…he had even auditioned for the drama school she had wanted to go to just so that the two would still be in the same school together, he had even endured the bullying…for her.

Zarana closed her eyes, she wondered if her twin was okay? If he was still alive even! He was not good at being discreet on missions, he was the thug in their gang. Not the brains, but the brawns.

"Just my twin…my twin brother." She confessed, boy this illness whatever it was it was making her soft. Zandar would have made fun of her if he were here.

"I did not know you had a twin…which one is he? Zartan or Zandar?" Storm shadow sounded surprised and thoroughly intrigued.

"Zandar…he and I do everything together…We are never apart, a year is going to be messed up without him." Zarana hated sounding so weak, but it was going to take some getting used too not having her partner in crime around.

"You are both seventeen…Zartan, how much older is he than you?" he questioned suddenly, Zarana groaned.

"Way older, he's like twenty years older than me…I guess he's thirty seven…my dad never talked about him…didn't know Zartan existed till he started visiting our parents …I think I was eight when we first met…" Zarana explained, Storm shadow nodded and then asked her to continue her story. "There's nothing else to say" she was lying there was plenty more she could say about her older brother, but Zarana was not in the mood to divulge any more secrets from her personal life. What did he care anyhow? Why was Storm Shadow suddenly interested in her family?

"I had many brothers." Storm Shadow added suddenly, Zarana looked at him with her eyelids half open she was groggy but she was listening. "I was not related to any of them, My birth parents were two different for each other. I was left at the Arashikage temple in Japan, I am half Japanese from my mother, Korean from my father…they left me there at five only speaking little Korean and no Japanese, I had to learn that over the years…I do not know why they did that…but the Arashikage became my family. The grand master was like a father to me."

Zarana noticed even in the dim light that came from the fire place that Storm Shadow's face grew solemn…was he expressing sadness? To her?

"There was one student my age I was close too, my rival in every aspect. But a friend and brother none the less…I was always second best to him. I did not like that, being treated as the second. But he was my brother…" he trailed off at this point.

"And…what happened?" she dared to ask.

"This is all you need to know about me." Storm shadow suddenly stood up, effectively ending his story. "Go back to sleep, we will continue training once you are well again." He turned his back on her, going to his side of the cabin where his pallet awaited him.

"Wait!...why tell me that in the first place?" Zarana managed to shout at him. Her teacher heard her but he was still preparing his bed with his back facing her, she heard him sigh. She had never heard him sigh, not in the past nine weeks he was too well guarded…why let his guard down now?

"Just so that you know, you can learn to live without your brother. You feel incomplete, you may feel empty, but you should remember you will see them again and be fondly welcomed back. I do not have that luxury, now rest…we have a year ahead of us left." Storm shadow sounded a bit sad when he said this, Zarana could not believe it. But it did ease her a bit, she would be welcomed back with open arms to her family, but from what her teacher had said-it was clear there was bad blood between him and his family…or adoptive family.

Zarana was slowly drifting off, it wouldn't be hard considering how exhausted and sick she felt. She heard Storm shadow shift in his bed, she could tell he was facing her.

"Happy birthday, you are eighteen years old today. My apologies for how your birthday went, if my calendar is correct you are indeed eighteen."

Zarana had forgotten about that, her own birthday! she huffed, another day older no big deal…but it was nice that someone did remember it.

"Thank you." Was all she said. It was the first and only time she would say thank you to her teacher, she could have sworn that he had laughed quietly when she said it.

.

"No way…no way it was nothing…" Zarana argued with herself seven years had passed since that night, it had been a turning point in their relationship. That training was harsh, but after that night, it had become easier to talk to him. No way the Baroness who trained with him after had gotten him to open up like that? but then again she probably had not fallen off of a fifteen foot tree while ill. She was perfect…according to what her associates had said about that bitches training.

"Zarana" she stood up immediately, her name was being called on an intercom-there must have been one in every room of course. She knew that it was her brother Zandar on the line "We have a mission."

Zarana hurried to the main conference room where she knew her Commander and the others would be. She froze at the door when she saw him standing proudly by the Commander, he was in full health now. Storm Shadow did eye her, she eyed him back not wanting to back down and appear weak, not again-never gain not after what he had done to her.

The bubblegum pink haired mistress of disguise quickly took a place next to her twin who made an effort to stand in front of her, blocking Storm Shadow's view of her. The Commander laughed (though it sounded like a hiss) he waved the tenseness in the room off and marched forward with is hands at his back.

"My soldiers, what left of you I have. I have received some news from Zartan-or should I say the president?" he laughed as if it was the most amusing thing in the world "We are preparing a strike against the Joes, we plan to decimate them. But of course…they have something I want, and only you three can get it back."

"Anything you say Commander" Storm Shadow spoke up first and stepped forward "What do you need us to do?"

"Zandar and Zarana will go to Australia first, you two are to recruit Firefly. We are going to need him and only you two can find him." The commander ordered.

"That should be easy, he's always around that bugger" Zandar snickered, Zarana kept quiet she knew Firefly's expertise why was he needed now?

"Storm Shadow…You will impersonate Snake Eyes, I need you to commit a crime that will garner attention and have you sent to the worst camp on earth. I know you are the only one qualified for this." The commander paused Storm Shadow did not seem unnerved "your mission in that camp is to save the Baroness."

Zarana's glare was very hard to miss, she could have screamed at that.

The Baroness? The baroness! Why save her? She had betrayed them all. Zarana stormed out of the room, she knew all eyes were on her but she could not have cared any less. She was ready to shoot something. She wished it was the Baroness.

* * *

Hi there everyone who is reading this! I'm sorry I've taken so long to update, I really wanted to put this chapter together for the longest time. But all of my ideas took awhile to arrange and it was easier after Retalliation came out. Now that I have that movie in my collection I plan to finally complete this story in the next few months. Things are about to get juicy, and with the awesomeness that is the sequel I plan to incorporate my original idea's and tie it to tha film.

Hope you guys like this, Sorry once again with the OOC-ness Zarana is different in this story but past Zarana was green behind the ears where as present Zarana is closer to her true character I just haven't had a chance to show her fully. There is a reason why Storm Shadow opened up to her when she got sick, if you've seen the sequel it will give you a giant clue.

Thank you so much for reading! Have fun reviewing!

also posted a title pic, but it's all distorted sad face...


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